I've seen Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke a few times, and they are some of the best movies I've seen. Unfortunately, I haven't seen the others - maybe I can persuade my school's Anime Club to show them, since they have most Miyazaki films.
Although I like most anime, Miyazaki's movies tend to go a bit above and beyond the normal stuff in terms of plot and message.

When I was in a mall in Japan, I heard some music I thought I recognized... I went up to the first floor and it turned out they had an orchestra playing the music from Princess Mononoke. Good stuff, too.

Niahak, if you're getting your anime club to show Nausicaa, make sure it's the real version. The full movie was not released in North America until last summer, and before them people here could only watch either (a) a terrible truncated version, or (b) poor quality pirated fan-subtitled version. Our university's anime club showed the latter, and I never forgave them.

"Whatever you do, don't fall off the bridge! It'll be a pain to try to get back up again." - Private, DW 8

Spirited Away was my first experience of Miyazaki. At the time, I didn't know anything about his films.

Since then, I've seen Princess Mononoke, Nausicaa, and Howl's Moving Castle. I also have the soundtracks for Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, and play them often.We do plan on adding Miyazaki's works to our collection here at home, to be sure. Those films have a way of expressing being like I rarely see in other films more populous here in the States.

I can't comment on English voice acting; it's generally been good in the films I've watched dubbed (can't recall which those were, however). I usually go with subtitles.

"For us to have self-esteem is truly an act of revolution and our revolution is long overdue."— Margaret Cho

Totoro and the Cat Bus both sit on the dashboard in my car, as shown in this picture. I got them shortly after my wife commented on how creepy the cat bus is. My son is scared of it, and my daughter loves it (because I told her about it, she wanted to see the movie—during my vacation to Utah not long ago, she told my mother that <i>My Neighbor Totoro</i> was her favorite movie). It is quite funny to hear reactions of the people in the back seats (the Cat Bus seems to be looking at them).

Lady Wu wrote:Niahak, if you're getting your anime club to show Nausicaa, make sure it's the real version. The full movie was not released in North America until last summer [...]

Can you recall any memorable moments that are found in the full version, but not the truncated version? We’ve got a Disney version, and it didn’t <i>seem</i> truncated, but I would like to make sure. The movie was also quite long the few times I’ve watched it.

Wild-Eyes wrote:Those films have a way of expressing being like I rarely see in other films more populous here in the States.

I know exactly what you are talking about. Character personalities and life—especially that of children—are captured in a way that you just don’t ever see in other cartoons (let alone other Japanese animations). In fact, I have frequently felt that many characters in the cartoons feel more alive than real actors do in many movies. Beyond that, the characters have a… sense of being… a state of being… that a person truly has to experience through his films to understand.

Damn you, James. If I wasn't moving in 2 months, I'd go and get me a huggable Totoro. (Actually, I make it a point to go pet the stuffed totoros at this poster store downtown. They're kept behind the counter, but the staff is so used to me asking to pet the totoros, they'd just let me ^^\\// )

Can you recall any memorable moments that are found in the full version, but not the truncated version? We’ve got a Disney version, and it didn’t <i>seem</i> truncated, but I would like to make sure. The movie was also quite long the few times I’ve watched it.

The Disney version is the full one.

Wild-Eyes wrote:Those films have a way of expressing being like I rarely see in other films more populous here in the States.

Agreed.

And of course, that is most easily seen in Totoro, where it's really all about being and not much about doing. And somehow it's not boring, even though nothing much ever happens, because Miyazaki is able to illustrate the basic joys of being alive through his art. His work also radiates childlike fascination at every turn. I mean, how many people in the world can make dustbunnies cute??

"Whatever you do, don't fall off the bridge! It'll be a pain to try to get back up again." - Private, DW 8